Key Senator announces opposition to merger
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070523/tc_nm/xm_sirius_dc_1;_ylt=Aj8X9txfNwyP9cWt.FqeSBkE1vAI
Reuters is reporting that Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) has come out on record as opposing the XM-Sirius merger. As we’ve said before, Congress does NOT have a direct role to play in the merger decision, but that regulators who do have a role will take the input from those who control their funding very seriously. Senator Kohl is the chairman of the Senate’s anti-trust subcommittee, and works closely with the DoJ anti-trust division.
For Mel and the merger team, this is clearly bad news. On the good news front the marketing department ought to take some of Sen. Kohl’s words for their advertising. Terrestrial radio is too limited to compete with satellite radio, while personal audio players can not match the programming of satellite service, he wrote.
“No other technology available today is a substitute for the satellite radio,” Kohl wrote.
Heck, we’ve been saying that for years!! As much we all of us here would tend to agree with the Senator on these points, we also need to recognize that millions of consumers disagree and find their terrestrial radio stations and personal music players not only competitive, but superior.
Rueters is reporting that Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) has come out on record as opposing the XM-Sirius merger. As we've said before, Congress does NOT have a direct role to play in the merger decision, but that regulators who do have a role will take the input from those who control their funding very seriously. Senator Kohl is the chairman of the Senate anti-trust committee, and works closely with the DoJ anti-trust division.
For Mel and the merger team, this is clearly bad news. On the good news front the marketing department out to take some of Sen. Kohl's words for their advertising. <strong>Terrestrial radio is too limited</strong> to compete with satellite radio, while <strong>personal audio players can not match the programming</strong> of satellite service, he wrote.
"<strong>No other technology available today is a substitute for the satellite radio</strong>," Kohl wrote.
Heck, we've been saying that for years!! As much we all of us here would tend to agree with the Senator on these points, we also need to recognize that millions of consumers disagree and fing their terestrial radio stations and personal music players not only competitive, but superior.
I don't want to stray into Asylum territory, but I'm not seeing any undue NAB influence here.
Edit, here's a list of who got NAB money in the 2006 cycle. This does NOT include money contributed by the NAB's members. NAB Contributions by RoadRunner
Although they can exert political influence over the agencies generally, lawmakers have no direct input into the decisions about individual merger reviews." The senator is the chairman of the subcomittee that reviews the activities of the DoJ anti-trust division. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that his opinion might hold some sway. YMMV. by RoadRunner
Senator Kohl's financial motivations
This fucking guy should recuse himself of anything to do with the Sirius-XM merger; here are the facts:
Herb Kohl holds the title of President/Director of the Milwaukee Bucks. In 2005, the latest financial info I could gather on him, he has 68.7 million worth of stock in the company before expenses (http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2005/... So where's the connection? Well... here is an excerpt from an article you should read:
The Milwaukee Bucks will assume full responsibility for advertising sales on their radio broadcasts and buy the air time for their games that run on WTMJ-AM (620) beginning with the 2007-2008 season.
The Bucks and WTMJ management began informing their staffs and advertisers of the new arrangement Jan. 17 as part of a new broadcasting contract.
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/sto...
Currently Sirius is the provider for NBA, and if all XM subscribers went to Sirius, this would subtract greatly from the number of people who would listen to the games on WTMJ and cut into fat cat Kohl's pockets. This merger obviously should be approved, but I fear all the politcal games being played right now might stop it and if that happens I would lose what little faith I have left in our politicians. by M4
and wouldn't those NBA fans who for some reason REALLY want to listen to Bucks games on satellite (the exact same broadcast) already be sirius subscribers? by dkain1976
Sen Kohl started Kohls food and department stores in Milwaukee. He sold both for tons of money. And unlike most senators, Kohl still lives like an average person.
I generally believe Kohl's opinion and agree that the merger is probably a bad idea.
As far as conflict of interest. Thats not even logical.
1. Anyone who really want to listen to the Buck on satellites is Sirius Subscriber for Basket Ball or some other reason.
2. Almost anyone in Wisconsin can hear WTMJ especially at night (50,000w clear channel - i believe. Largest AM radio station in Wisconsin).
3. Right not at least the Bucks suck!
LDGumby by ldgumby
are people really this desperate for a connection? if so, think on this: there are seven letters in Herbert Kohl's first name.
there are four letters in Kohl's last name.
if you go to channel 74 on sirius, its what? the BLUES... what's channel 74 on XM? THE BLUES!!!! this merger gives fat cat senator kohl the BLUES.
that's evidence one, here's evidence two.
the fat cat senator who opposes sirius is named Kohl....89.3 KOHL is a college radio station at Ohlone College.... they're a college station so i'm not sure if they're a member of the NAB but they teach a class called "RADIO BROADCASTING" and from all accounts they only focus THREE WEEKS of the semester to Satellite radio!!
Bias? you decide. by dkain1976
its not heartless... I mean a heart is kind of a pre-requisite for a heart attack. by soxnationonline
The merger is a bad idea, well unless you have millions of shares of stock. by chadmd
http://www.slacker.com/ by v1ru5
The merger is a bad idea, well unless you have millions of shares of stock.
Ummm.....Like this?
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/gameday_audio.jsp by MrBroncosfan
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/gameday_audio.jsp
How does a "live podcast" differ from a "live Internet broadcast?" by dantodd
The merger is a bad idea, well unless you have millions of shares of stock.
Maybe not podcasts, but certainly streaming audio of the games at www.MLB.com by NFL-Fan
The negatives greatly outweigh the positives on this one. Not a single positive is more important then making sure there is a direct competitor to keep the monthly fees in check.
my two cents,
scooby by scooby2